Assessing the Threat to the Georgia State Archives

As you recall, I wrote earlier this semester about the proposed closing of the Georgia State Archives. The OAH has published a piece by Jamil S. Zainaldin, president of the Georgia Humanities Council and secretary of the Friends of Georgia Archives and History, that is worth reading. He explains the historical developments that led to this decision, the actions that were taken to stave off the archives’ closing, and the murky future that they still face.

Here is part of the background that I was unaware of:

In truth, the announcement was the culmination of five years of steady funding erosion. Kemp’s predecessor in office, Karen Handel, began the practice of cutting disproportionately into the archives’ budget in the name of government efficiency. In 2010, after three years in office, she resigned her position to run for governor, but the practice of making deep cuts to the archives continued under Kemp. Clearly, that the archives is under the jurisdiction of the secretary of state’s office was becoming the archives’ greatest liability.